Love, Borders, Brexit

The ‘Love, Borders, Brexit’ podcast series charts the experiences of UK-EU couples navigating the UK partner immigration system – one of the world’s most restrictive family migration systems in the world - after Brexit.   In each of the first five episodes, a couple tells us what happened when they tried to live together in the UK. The final episode reflects on what participants and the research team have learnt from the project. The series is hosted and produced by Lincoln Van der Westhuizen (a UK-based podcast producer who has lived experience with the UK partner immigration system). Music by David Hewson (Man at Sea). Podcast logo by Michael Grieve (Strange Fish Design). 

In this final episode of the Love, Borders, Brexit podcast series, we hear from participants in a workshop that brought together UK-EU couples going through the UK partner immigration system – a rare opportunity to share experiences with people who know exactly what they’re talking about. The Brexit Couples research team tell us what they have learned through conducting this research.

In this episode of Love, Borders, Brexit, we hear from Sam and Sasha, a UK–EU couple whose relationship was reshaped by the realities of the UK’s post-Brexit immigration system. Faced with limited options, Sam and Sasha tell us how they felt pressured into marriage to prove their relationship for the visa application. What should have been a joyful milestone became a “strategic exercise”, weighing visa routes, financial conditions, and where it was even possible for them to marry.  Sasha received Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a disability-related benefit, which enabled them to apply for a visa through meeting a different financial requirement, but her condition meant there was an additional impact on her health. Dr Jasmin El-Shewy, lecturer in family law at Newcastle University, offers wider insight into the difficulties couples encounter in the UK’s family visa system.

In this episode of Love, Borders, Brexit, we hear from Ross from the UK, and Petra from Romania, whose relationship developed while travelling across Europe. They share their dreams of family life in the UK, the stress of confronting the family visa rules and trying to meet the UK’s income requirement, and how Ross has come to terms with having to leave the UK to make a life with his EU family. Katharine Charsley, Professor of Migration Studies at the University of Bristol, helps unpack how these policies are reshaping relationships and forcing many UK–EU couples to rethink where and how they can build a life together.

In this episode of Love, Borders, Brexit, we talk to Gavin and Stephanie, a UK–EU couple, about the challenges they faced navigating the UK’s visa system after Brexit, despite Gavin’s well-paid job in the UK. Married with two children and expecting a third, they tell us how inflexible immigration rules led to Stephanie being separated from her children for months. Gavin and Stephanie describe what it was like to deal with the rigidity of the system, from complex requirements and a visa refusal to an administrative mix-up which led to a dramatic last-minute dash to collect Stephanie’s passport and visa. Professor Helena Wray from the Law School at the University of Exeter offers expert insight into the wider issues within the UK’s post-Brexit immigration framework and how they affect families.

In this episode of Love, Borders, Brexit, we talk to Andy, a retired UK firefighter, and Linda, a Dutch musician, as they try to make a life together in post-Brexit Britain. Andy and Linda share their experience of navigating the UK immigration system as a couple, from confusing rules and mounting costs to the uncertainty of not knowing what comes next. They describe grappling with this inflexible system amidst Andy’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. Social Anthropologist Dr Nicole Hoellerer from the University of Bristol helps unpack how these policies are reshaping relationships, mental wellbeing, and family life for thousands of cross-border couples. 

In this episode of Love, Borders, Brexit, we talk to Maria and John, an EU–UK couple, as they navigate the UK immigration system after Brexit. Maria, an Austrian citizen, and John, a UK national, share their experience of returning to the UK after living abroad and finding themselves caught in unexpected visa and residency rules.Maria and John describe what it’s really like to deal with post-Brexit bureaucracy,  from confusing paperwork to long delays and uncertainty about their family’s future.Senior Researcher Nicole Hoellerer from the University of Bristol helps unpack how Brexit has reshaped everyday life for EU–UK couples and families.